The Patterns of
English Spelling
Volumes 1-10
The
Only
Complete
Resource for Word Lists
Organized by Phonograms for
Reading/Spelling/Vocabulary Development
Vol. Vol
1
CVC Short Vowels
6
Basic Suffixes
2
CVCC
7
Ending Y Words
3
CV, CVV, CVCe
8
Advanced Suffixes
4 9
Advanced
Patterns
5
W- & -R Controls
10
Prefixes, Roots, Suffixes
With Word Families in Sentence Context
by
Don McCabe
ED RED ("RED") FAMILY
ED
ED'z
Ed'id
ED'ing
ED dee
ED dur
Ed
Ed's
dad
Eddy
wed
(5.05)weds
wed/wedded
wedding
(5.00)Eddie
bed
(1.75)beds
(3.10)bedded
bedding
red
(1.45)led
(10.30)sled
(7.30)sleds
(7.05)bled
See p. 402 for -ead = "ED" as in bread
sped
shed
(7.35)sheds
(9.60)shed shedding
said
1 (2.55)unsaid
Power Vocabulary
fed (9.35)Jed Jed's bed
Red Red's dad redder
Fred Fred's sled Freddy
Ted Ted's medicine Teddy
Ned Ned's meds
pled
newlywed newlyweds
shred shreds shredded shredding shredder
embed embeds embedded embedding
bedtime meds
bobsled bobsleds bobsledding
quadruped quadrupeds
premed
coed coeds coeducation coeducational
hotbed riverbed roadbed daybed sickbed flatbed
bred well-bred ill-bred thoroughbred purebred infrared
fled (7.15)
toolshed watershed
woodshed bloodshed
ED = "ID" as in Sacred FAMILY
ID
ID'z
sacred (14.45)
hundred (5.35) hundreds (7.85)
See p. 108 for "ID" as in Kid Family
hatred (13.65)
Difficulty Levels on Scale of 1.00 to 21.00 are placed inside parentheses ( ).
Dolch Word: red Spelling Demons: led hundred
Homophones: bread / bred lead / led read / red
1
The word said is the past tense of the verb say. The y in say changes to an i and the d is added for past tense. It is a rare English dialect that rhymes said with paid. Rhyme said with Ted and Ed.
ed
bed
I can’t believe it’s time for bed already.
beds
How many beds do you have in your house?
bedding
Sheets, blankets, pillows, and pillow cases are called bedding.
wedding
They had a big wedding in a small church.
weddings Some weddings are bigger than others.
wedded
Some say they were wedded. Others say they were wed.
weds
If he weds her, he marries her.
wed
To wed a person is to marry that person.
Ed
Ed is my best friend.
Ed’s
Ed’s real name is either Edward, Edwin, or Edmond.
led
The blood hounds led the police to the escaped convict.
bled
The last time I cut myself shaving, I bled all over.
fled
A lot of men fled our country during the Viet Nam War.
sled
I never did get a new sled for Christmas.
sleds
Who needs sleds in Florida?
Ned
Ned is one of my best friends.
Ned’s
You should have seen Ned’s face when I told him the story.
Red’s
Fred’s hair is red and so is Red’s. So is Ned’s face.
shed
Have you ever seen a wood shed?
sheds
In the summer our dog sheds hair like crazy.
shedding
You don’t want to sit next to him when he’s shedding.
shredding
Do you know what it means to be shredding paper.
shred
To shred up paper is to tear it to bits.
shreds
Some offices have a machine that shreds paper.
shredded
There is even a cereal called Shredded Wheat.
sped
Their car sped through the night.
Ted
Ted has a real fast car. Ted’s car is faster than Ned’s.
bred
Last year they bred rabbits. This year they are going to breed more
rabbits.
bread We
eat bread. The past tense of breed is bred and speed is sped.
read
Have you read Big Red? If you haven’t, you ought to read it!
ACK BLACK ("BLAK") FAMILY
AK
AK-ss
AK't
AK'ing
AK'ee
AK'ur
back backs backed backing backer
Jack Jack's jacket Jackie
black blacks blacked blacking Blackie blacker
pack packs packed packing Packie packer
rack racks racked racking
crack cracks cracked cracking By Cracky cracker
track tracks tracked tracking tracker
Power Vocabulary
hack hacks hacked hacking hacker
shack shacks shacked shacking
whack whacks whacked whacking
jack jacks jacked jacking Jackie
hijack hijacks hijacked hijacking
lack lacks lacked lacking lacquor
slack slacks slacked slacking slacker
clack clacks clacked clacking clacker
smack smacks smacked smacking smacker
knack knacks
snack snacks snacked snacking
unpack unpacks unpacked unpacking package packet
repack repacks repacked repacking
sack sacks sacked sacking
tack tacks tacked tacking tacky
attack attacks attacked attacking attacker
stack stacks stacked stacking stacker
quack quacks quacked quacking quacker
Mack Mack's shack
Mac Mac's attack
flack flak
yak yaks yakked yakking
-ACK words form either plurals or possessives that rhyme with the AK-ss column.
bookrack gunrack hatrack off-the-rack tailback swayback
quarterback rick-rack touchback hunchback hogback halfback
kickback crackerjack bareback hatchback horseback blackjack
biofeedback coatrack knickknack tamarack thumbtack laidback
soundtrack Cossack runback rollback razorback outback
paperback playback cutback scatback feedback racetrack
drawback flashback skyjack slapjack flapjack wetback
lumberjack lampblack gunnysack knapsack ticktack hardtack
zweiback horseback piggyback
backward backwards background backdrop backhand back
Difficulty Levels on Scale of 1.00 to 21.00:
back 1.55, quack 7.60Spelling Demons:
attack attackedRelated Families:
See p. 215NOTE:
-acks = -axack
(AK)
lack
Does Jack lack a concern for others named Jack or Jackson?
lacks
What the world lacks is love.
lacked
Zack’s sister has never lacked for anything. She has everything.
lacking
Something is lacking in your answer to my question.
slacking
At times, almost all of us are guilty of slacking off.
slacked
My brother Jack has really slacked off in his work. He retired.
slacks
I really like the pair of slacks you’re wearing. They’re cool.
slack
The rope is much too slack. Tighten it. Take up the slack.
black
I don’t mind watching TV programs in black and white.
Blacks
I know Blacks named White and Whites named Black.
sacks
My sister carried in all three sacks of groceries by herself.
sack
I don’t think Zack could punch his way out of a wet paper sack.
sacked
My brother Jack got sacked by his boss for being an hour late.
sacking
My sister thinks sacking groceries can be a fun job.
tacking
My sister Jackie is always tacking up some stupid papers.
tacked
Did you see what the teacher tacked up on the board?
tacks
Did you know that they charge sales tax on thumb tacks?
tack
It’s not so funny when it’s you who sits on a thumb tack.
attack
Everybody should learn how to attack problems.
attacks
Heart attacks can be serious. Do you know C.P.R.?
attacked
Jack and I were attacked by a pack of angry caterpillars.
attacking
You shouldn’t always be attacking what I say.
stacking
Zack must be stacking the deck, but I can’t catch him at it.
stacked
I know Zack stacked the deck. He packed it with aces.
stack
It’s not nice to stack a deck—unless it’s for a card trick.
back
Jack doesn’t like to back up—or back you up, either.
backs
I hope Jack backs down and backs you up.
backed
Jack backed his car into a tree. He really racked it up.
backing
I hope Jack gets some backing pretty soon.
snacking
Birds around here are snacking on grubs, worms, and maggots.
snacked
My crazy brother snacked on ice cream with mustard and catsup.
packed
Jack should have packed up his things an hour ago.
racked
Last night Jackie racked up Jack’s car and blamed me for it.
cracked
When Jackie looked at herself in the mirror, it cracked.
tracked
The last time my brother tracked in dirt, he got smacked.
quacked
The duck quacked for crackers.
whacked
Lizzie Bordon’s father was whacked with an ax forty times.
shacks
The Irish lived in shacks on the wrong side of the tracks.
UE CUE ("K'YOO") FAMILY
A
LL THESEUE
WORDS HAVE AN"INVISIBLE Y"
1 BEFORE THEUE
y'OO y'OO-z y'OO-d y'OO-ing
cue cues cued cuing
rescue rescues rescued rescuing rescuer rescuers
barbecue barbecues barbecued barbecuing
argue argues argued arguing argument argumentative
value values valued valuing valuable valuation
continue continues continued continuing continual continuation
Power Vocabulary
devalue devalues devalued devaluing
discontinue discontinues discontinued discontinuing
imbue imbues imbued imbuing
queue queues queued queuing
miscue miscues miscued miscuing
More Power Vocabulary
venue hue ague curlicue
Hugh Hughes (AN "INSANE" SPELLING) revue
T
HE LETTERT
IN THESE WORDS IS PRONOUNCED AS A"CH"
ch'oo ch'oo-z
statue statues statuesque
virtue virtues virtuous
THE LETTERS
SS
IN THESE WORDS ARE PRONOUNCED AS AN"SH"
sh'oo sh'oo-z sh'oo-d sh'oo ing
issue issues issued issuing issuance
reissue reissues reissued reissuing
tissue tissues
Difficulty Levels on Scale of 1.00 to 21.00: argue 9.25, value 6.05, statue 9.35, statues 17.10, issue 11.25, issues 13.05
Spelling Demons: argue argument
Homophones: Q/cue/queue hue/Hugh/hew hues/Hughes/Hugh's/hews
Related Families: O GO p. 308, OE TOE p. 309, OW GROW p. 310, OWE LOWE p. 311, OUGH DOUGH p. 311, O DO p. 312, OO BOO p. 312, OE SHOE p. 313, OUGH THROUGH p. 313 , U FLU p. 313, UE BLUE p. 314
FANCY FAMILIES: EAU BEAU, AU GAUCHE -- p. 949
1
See
The Case of the Invisible Y (or Why is there a y in you and not in union, Eunice, and
euchre?)
by Don McCabe. AVKO Great Idea Reprint Series #619.ue
(y’oo)
1rhymes with the -o (to), -oo (too), ew (blew) and -ou (you)
rimes.
cue
My aunt has her own pool cue. She can really play pool.
rescue
Why would a fireman rescue a cat that climbed up a tree?
rescues
Every year the coast guard rescues stranded ice fishermen.
rescued
The firefighter who rescued my father was my sister!
barbecued
My friend Barbie barbecued some ribs. They were awful.
barbecuing
Barbecuing ribs is my specialty. Barbie’s is barbecuing chicken.
barbecue
I love going to a barbecue at the Bar-B-Q ranch.
argue
It doesn’t pay to argue. Win an argument and lose a friend.
argues
My friend Dan argues on both sides of any argument.
arguing
Dan is always arguing. You can’t win an argument from him.
value
It isn’t always easy to teach people the value of money.
values
It seems that everybody’s values are not the same.
valued
I have always valued your friendship.
continue
I will continue to argue that personal values are important.
continues
Hugh continues to argue even after everybody has left.
continued
Hugh’s arguing continued all through the night.
continuing
Why he keeps continuing to argue is beyond me.
queue
A
queue is not a cue or a Q, it’s a line you stand and wait in.
queues
The Chinese style pony tails for men are also called queues.
tue (choo) rhymes with the -o (to), -oo (too), ue (blue) and -ou (you) rimes.
statue
Why are you standing like a statue? You can’t a stat chew!
statues
The cows were all standing like statues in Oklahoma!
virtues
Did
Vir choose to name all the virtues?
virtue
Honesty is a virtue. Pride is a vice.
virtual
Are you acquainted with virtual reality?
ssue (shoo) rhymes with the -o (to), -oo (too), ew (blew) and -ou (you)
rimes.
issue
Please don’t make a big issue out of this.
issues Do you have any back issues of The Readers Digest?
issued They issued me a new license for my car after it was stolen.
issuing How many new gun permits are they issuing every day?
reissuing The reissuing of the building permits was held up.
reissue
Why should you have to reissue anything?
tissue
When my baby sister says, “wanna tissue” she wants to kiss you.
tissues I go through a box of tissues each time I catch cold.
1
All these words have an “invisible” y before the letters ue. See “The Case of the Invisible Y or Why is there a Y in You but Not in Union?” Great Idea Reprint Series, p. 206. Clio, Mich.: AVKO Foundation, 1995.
ight Right (“RYH’t”) Family
See rhyming family -ite kite p. 357
YH’t YH’t-ss YH’t-id YH ting
right
(3.25)rights
(5.90)righted righting rightly
righteous
fight
(3.55)fights
fought fighting
(5.05)fighter
fighters
sight
(6.15)sights
sighted
sighting unsightly
light
(2.90)lights
lit/lighted
(6.15)lighting
lighter
lightly
(6.20)night
(1.70)nights
(3.80)first-nighter
nightly
might
(4.80)mighty
(7.85)mightily
bright
(3.65)brighter brightest brightly
tight
(6.10)tights
tightness tightest tighter tightly
Power Vocabulary
delight (5.05) delights delighted (7.00) delighting delightful (6.85) delightfully
copyright copyrights copyrighted copyrighting
swordfight swordfights swordfighting swordfighter
knight knights knighted knighting knighthood
moonlight moonlights moonlighted moonlighting moonlighter
slight (8.05) slights slighted slighting slightly (9.75)
More Power Vocabulary
fright (5.25) flight (6.75) wright highlight food fight sword fight
dogfight bullfight gunfight water fight fist fight strobe light
night light ultra-light headlight floodlight candlelight limelight
house light sidelight flashlight twilight taillight penlight
sunlight lamplight plight starlight footlight spotlight
streetlight window light daylight skylight blight fly-by-night
midnight (5.55) tonight (2.20) overnight all right “alright”1 ultra-right
forthright downright upright outright playwright millwright
Cartwright Wainwright Lillian Wright out-of-sight bombsight hindsight
eyesight foresight insight insightful oversight skintight
airtight watertight uptight Dwight sleight height (12.45)
See pp. 859-860 for more words using the -en suffix
brighten brightens brightened brightening brightener brightly
frighten (10.05) frightens frightened frightening (11.45)
tighten tightens tightened tightening
lighten lightens lightened lightening bolts of lightning (11.35)
heighten heightens heightened heightening
Even More Power Vocabulary
tightfisted tightlipped tightfitting tightrope tightwad tightwire
sightsee sightless righthanded right-to-life right-to-live right-to-die
right-to-know right-to-work
Homophones:
right/rite/write/wright might/mite night/knight sight/cite/site lightening/lightning light/”LITE” Spelling Demons: tightened frightened lightning
1
Although the word “alright” follows a common pattern found in words such as almost, although, albeit, already,
altogether, and always, and although we often find this misspelling in books, magazines, and newspapers, it is
still considered a misspelling, albeit an understandable one. The word “alright” should always be spelled as two words, all right. All right, already?
ight rhymes with the -ite rime.
right Okay,
Mr.
Wright, let’s write “a religious rite” the right way.
rights
Should animals have rights just like people do? Mosquitoes, too?
upright
Not many animals can walk upright.
all
right
All right, some writers write alright when they shouldn’t.
fight
Who wrote “play all day” and “fight all night”?
fighting
I wish the two of you would stop your fighting.
might I
just
might find a mite hidden in the dynamite.
night Did
Al
Knight really play, “Night and Day” all night?
tonight
Is tonight the night?
knight
Can you see a knight in shining armor at night?
knighthood Could a night in the hood help you achieve knighthood?
midnight
Why do they call midnight, the witching hour?
sight
Get out of my sight or I’ll cite your building site.
unsightly
Your site is so unsightly it should be razed.
hindsight
It’s too bad it’s not foresight instead of hindsight that is 20-20.
insight
Does that give you any insight into the human condition?
light
Is there really a light at the end of the tunnel?
lighting
Lighting up cigarettes is hazardous to your health.
lightning We saw a flash of lightning and then heard the thunder.
delight
On Thanksgiving, you can eat to your heart’s delight.
delightful
Wasn’t that just delightful?
highlight
Learning when and how to highlight was the highlight.
flashlight
Does anybody have a flashlight I can borrow?
slight
All I want is just a slight advantage over you.
slightly
You’re more than just slightly insane—you’re nuts!
tight
Who put the cap on the jar so tight?
tighten
It looks like we’ll have to tighten our belts.
tightened Tom tightened the lug nuts with the lug wrench.
brightened The smile collector really brightened my day.
brighten
Doesn’t a smile always brighten your day?
frighten
I really didn’t mean to frighten you.
frightening Is the thought of making someone happy that frightening?
lighten
I wish you would just lighten up a little.
lightened We lightened our load by throwing out the extras.
lightening When the sky is lightening up it’s getting lighter.
lightning We saw a flash of lightning and then heard the thunder.
ARF SCARF ("SKAH'r-f") FAMILY
AH'r-f
AH'r-f's
AH'r-f't
AH'r
fing
arf arf
barf barfs barfed barfing
scarf (8.25) scarfs
scarves
ARGE LARGE ("LAH'r-j") FAMILY
AH'r-j
AH'r jiz
AH'r-j'd
AH'r jing
AH'r jur
charge (4.25) charges (5.55) charged (5.85) charging(6.55) chargerlarge (2.70) largely (9.05) larger (3.20) largest (4.05)
Power Vocabulary
enlarge enlarges enlarged enlarging enlarger enlargement
recharge recharges recharged recharging
discharge (8.35) discharges discharged discharging
overcharge overcharges overcharged overcharging
undercharge undercharges undercharged undercharging
surcharge surcharges
barge barges barged barging
Marge Marge's friend Margory
margin (11.70) margins marginal marginally
ARK PARK ("PAH'r-k") FAMILY
AH'r-k
AH'r-k's
AH'r-k't
AH'r king
AH'r kur
park parks parked parking Mr. Parker
spark sparks sparked sparking sparkle
bark barks barked barking barker
mark (2.45) marks (4.10) marked (4.80) marking marker
dark darker darkest
Power Vocabulary
hark harks harked harking
remark remarks (5.05) remarked remarking remarkable remarkably
embark embarks embarked embarking
aardvark Ozarks unmarked
darken darkens darkened darkening darkness (5.95)
hearken hearkens hearkened hearkening
market (2.95) marke ts marketed marketing
More Power Vocabulary
arc Joan of Arc narc ark lark skylark
meadowlark trademark benchmark birthmark pockmark bookmark
hallmark Denmark watermark snark ballpark Highland Park
stark quark landmark shark bulwark
Difficulty Levels on Scale of 1.00 to 21.00 are placed inside parentheses ( ). Homophones: marks / Marx arc / ark
arf
(AH’r-f)
arf, arf
Some dogs go “Bow, wow!” Others just go “Arf, arf.”
barf
Do sentences like that make you want to barf?
barfing
Barfing can be described as praying to the porcelain god.
scarf
I get a new scarf for my birthday every year.
scarfs
No, I don’t have a hundred scarfs. Fifty, maybe.
arj
(AH’r-j)
large
It’s not wise to carry large sums of cash around with you.
charge
My dad hates to pay cash. He would rather charge things.
charging
Who went charging up San Juan Hill? Teddy?
recharge
Every spring, we have to recharge all our batteries.
discharge
The U.S. Army decided to discharge the injured soldier.
discharging
The private injured himself while discharging his duties.
overcharge
I hate it when a store decides to deliberately overcharge you.
barge
Have you ever been on a barge?
barging
You shouldn’t just go barging into people’s houses or rooms.
Marge
Marge doesn’t like people to barge in on her when she’s reading.
margin
I like to write notes in the margin of books that I’m reading.
ark
(AH’r-k)
park
You shouldn’t park where there are NO PARKING signs.
spark
One spark from a sparkler sparked a grass fire last July.
bark
Our dog doesn’t bark. He growls.
barking
As long as a dog is barking, it can’t bite.
mark
When the teacher gave Mark Marx a high mark, Mark’s marks
markedly improved.
marks Did
Groucho
Marx receive high marks in school?
dark
My little sister is still afraid of the dark.
darker
It’s darker at night when it’s cloudy out.
hark
Did herald angels sing “Hark!”? Hark means “Pay attention!”
stark
Adam and Eve were created stark naked.
ark
Have you heard Bill Cosby’s version of Noah and his ark?
lark
Clark has a lark. I threw that one in for a lark.
shark
I can’t believe anybody would want a shark for a pet.
hallmark
What exactly is a hallmark? Goofy sentences, that sometimes make
you think, is my hallmark.
The Reading Teacher’s
List of Over 5,500
Basic Spelling Words
Arranged by Order of Difficulty
from I (the easiest) to psychology (the most difficult)
&
Alphabetically with Difficulty Level Assigned
on Scale of 1.00 to 21.00
a (1.00), abandon (13.80)….zone (3.70), zoo (2.95)
by
Don McCabe
The Reading Teacher’s
List of Over 5,500
Basic Spelling Words
Arranged by Order of Difficulty
From
I
(1.00)
and
a
(1.00)
to
psychology
(20.10)
&
Alphabetically with Difficulty Level Assigned
on scale of 1.00 - 21.00
a (1.00),
abandon
(13.80),zone
(3.70), zoo (2.95)by
Don McCabe
Copyright 1997 AVKO Educational Research Foundation 3084 W. Willard Road, Clio, Mich. 48420
Telephone: (810) 686-9283 FAX (810) 686-1101 eMail: [email protected]
Factor
1.50 her
was
are
be
going land long man my play saw
toy work
1.55 if
add away back call cowboy room cat new
1.60
them bad came end fat hand his mother on read this sun
fun
1.65
cars food had hot part run same school show week
1.70
cow five give got him house little most oil put tea way
night
1.75
box bed down ago eat feet line times
1.80 about
ball gave hard ran will bell do has May milk say
stop
1.85
face from moon pay when bank books mail thing top
town wood cap
1.90 letter
more nut page sat save ship so two dear fish tree
age
1.95
bee June law side stay stone game hope low pie six tell
Homophones: add/ad new/knew/gnu read/reed/Reid sun/son week/weak
him/hymn tea/tee/ti way/weigh night/knight box/Bach’s feet/feat/fete
ball/bawl do/dew/due May/may male/mail wood/would more/Moore
so/sew/sow/sol
1two/too/to dear/deer be/bee/Bea pie/pi(π )
1
Sol is more often mispronounced as “SOH” than it is correctly pronounced as “SOH’L.” Sol is the only
musical note spelled with three letters as in: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do. It is because sol is followed by la that we normally drop the ending sound of the letter l. As mentioned in the directions for usage—
Word Factor
Amount-Authorized
amount
1...5.25
amounting ...7.25
amounts ...7.80
ample...9.15
amuse ...8.10
amused ...8.00
amusement ...11.85
amusements...14.05
amusing ...9.15
an...2.50
analysis...18.55
anchor...13.70
ancient ...14.60
and...1.30
angel...10.90
angels ...10.75
anger...6.00
angle...7.60
angry ...8.15
animal...6.90
animals ...7.00
ankle...9.60
announce ...13.95
announced ...14.50
announcement ...15.50
annual...15.65
another...4.20
answer ...6.45
answered ...8.90
answering ...8.10
answers...8.30
ant...3.30
anticipate ...18.30
anticipation...18.50
ants ...3.85
anxiety...18.80
anxious ...13.65
any...2.30
any more...4.15
anybody...3.80
anyhow...4.55
anyone ...2.45
anything...3.05
1 ss
Word Factor
anyway ...4.20
anywhere ...3.85
apart...3.60
apartment...7.25
ape ...3.60
apiece ...11.70
apology...18.20
apparent...15.85
apparently...15.05
appeal ...11.60
appear...9.65
appearance...15.60
appeared ...11.05
appearing...10.75
appears ...9.05
appetite...16.00
apple...2.70
apples ...3.95
applicant...16.40
application...15.25
applications ...15.45
applied...11.35
applies ...12.65
apply...12.45
applying...14.15
appoint...14.15
appointed...10.20
appointment...10.40
appreciate ...15.55
appreciated ...16.05
appreciation...16.45
approach...13.45
approval...15.85
approve...12.10
approved...11.35
approximate...18.30
approximately ...19.35
April ...4.40
apron ...6.80
arch...5.85
are...1.50
area...8.80
aren’t ...6.95
argue...9.25
argument ...12.65
Word Factor
arise ...7.45
arithmetic ...5.95
arm ...2.55
armor ...2.55
arms...3.95
army ...3.65
arose ...5.55
around ...2.75
arrange...11.20
arranged...10.85
arrangement...12.90
arrangements ...14.05
arranging ...12.70
arrest...8.40
arrival ...14.15
arrive ...10.70
arrived ...8.90
arrives...9.70
arriving...10.45
arrow ...4.45
arrows...5.35
art ...2.00
article...13.85
articles ...14.60
artificial ...16.95
artist...7.65
as ...2.10
ascertain ...18.40
ashamed...7.35
ashes...6.00
aside ...3.75
ask ...2.70
asked ...4.40
asking ...2.20
asks...11.25
asleep...3.80
aspect...9.90
assemble...12.90
assembly...12.45
assign...14.25
assignment...13.15
assist...12.30
assistance ...16.25
assistant ...15.45
associate ...16.55
Word Factor
associated ...16.70
association...16.45
assortment ...13.40
assume...15.45
assumed...14.80
assuming ...14.40
assurance ...15.60
assure...12.65
assured...12.80
assuring ...14.45
astonish ...11.15
at...1.45
ate...3.60
athletics ...14.15
atmosphere ...15.35
attach ...10.80
attached ...10.35
attaching...11.05
attack ...9.75
attain...13.20
attempt...12.10
attempted...14.40
attempting ...13.60
attend...8.05
attendance ...14.55
attendant...15.80
attended ...10.45
attending...9.00
attention...10.45
attitude...15.20
attorney ...17.20
attorneys...17.60
attractive...12.55
audience ...14.60
auditorium ...15.15
August ...7.30
aunt ...4.45
aunt’s...13.25
auntie...13.75
aunts...7.90
author ...10.20
authorities...17.75
authority ...16.10
authorize...15.00
authorized...14.80
Approximate Percentages of Students by Grade in 1953
Who Could Correctly Spell the Words of the Corresponding
Difficulty Factors:
Very Easy 99%-90% Easy 89%-76% Instructional 75%-25% Difficult 24%-10% Very Difficult 9%-0% Grade 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Diff. Factors 1.00-1.05 1.00-1.20 1.00-1.30 1.00-2.00 1.00-3.40 1.00-3.95 1.00-4.95 Diff. Factors 1.10-1.30 1.25-1.50 1.35-2.60 2.10-3.55 3.45-5.25 4.00-7.80 5.00-10.40 Diff. Factors 1.35-2.70 1.55-4.55 2.65-7.00 3.60-11.05 5.30-13.70 7.85-17.45 10.45-18.65 Diff. Factors 2.75-3.00 4.60-6.50 7.05-11.00 11.10-16.20 13.75-18.00 17.50-19.10 18.70-19.80 Diff. Factors 3.05+ 6.55+ 11.05+ 16.25+ 18.05+ 19.15+ 19.85+To use this chart, just look up any word and find its difficulty factor. Look along the line that
represents the grade that you are teaching. Find the parameters that its difficulty factor fits between.
That will tell you whether the word is very easy, easy, instructional, difficult, or very difficult for the
grade.
Supposing you are teaching the 4
thgrade, and you want to find out whether or not you should teach
the word answer:
You look up the word answer and find that it has a difficulty factor of 6.45. You then look across
the 4
thgrade line. As the number 6.45 lies between 2.65 and 7.00, it qualifies as a word at the
“instructional” level, i.e., one already known by 25-75% of your students. If you were to look it up
in The New Iowa Spelling Scale it would give the percentage as 29%.
Word Word Word Word a—approach a...Not Given! abandon... 2 3 10 18 34 43 49 ability... 1 2 6 19 30 57 71 able ...2 . 21 56 76 86 95 97 about... 9 51 78 91 97 97 99 above... 4 29 59 76 84 94 97 abroad... 10 13 37 54 69 86 absence... 4 6 14 28 49 50 absent... 1 2 6 13 25 41 56 absolute... 1 2 6 13 25 41 56 absolutely... 1 2 3 11 16 41 abstract... 3 8 16 34 abundant... 3 4 14 20 34 47 abuse1... 1 7 27 40 56 68 80 accept... 1 4 20 42 60 61 acceptable... 3 5 21 39 48 acceptance.... 1 2 3 6 11 25 44 accepted... 3 5 13 33 52 65 accepting... 2 3 3 6 22 38 49 accident... 2 5 21 44 60 76 accidents... 1 8 14 41 54 66 accommodate..1 2 2 3 45 11 24 accommodation 1 2 4 8 10 10 accompanied. 1 1 6 14 32 42 accompany... 2 3 3 8 20 48 60 accomplish... 2 3 7 25 44 71 accomplished 2 11 18 46 64 accord... 3 7 16 26 53 73 accordance... 2 9 14 42 49 according... 2 6 17 38 67 81 accordingly.... 3 10 25 41 65 account... 3 5 32 46 73 81 accounting... 2 5 18 39 62 73 accounts... 4 7 39 54 70 78 accurate... 1 3 15 42 57 accuse... 4 11 22 44 61 accustom... 2 3 4 7 20 29 46 accustomed.... 2 2 6 8 25 30 ache... 2 6 9 17 43 64 70 achievement... 1 3 6 9 15 36 acid... 2 11 15 33 56 64 acknowledge. 1 2 5 11 29 53 acknowledged 2 3 12 24 38 acknowledging. 1 3 8 25 32 acknowledgment 1 3 5 6 13 25 acquaint... 4 8 13 28 acquaintance.. 1 3 3 11 20 acquainted... 2 4 5 9 14 25 acquire... 2 4 6 10 25 35 acre... 1 2 7 31 58 58 76 acres... 1 6 33 39 63 65 across... 6 26 56 72 83 90 91 act ...3 23 61 69 88 93 98 acted... 3 13 41 62 79 82 89 acting... 3 19 46 70 80 84 91 action... 2 4 16 44 67 89 94 actions ... 1 13 30 65 76 89 active... 6 17 50 65 83 93 activities... 1 3 9 24 32 55 activity... 1 1 6 11 37 48 63 acts2... 1 3 25 59 68 76 87 actual... 6 4 12 27 55 78 actually... 1 1 6 24 45 64 add...14 56 86 95 97 98 99 added... 6 47 71 74 93 93 97 adding... 11 55 74 77 93 96 98 addition... 3 15 31 49 77 85 additional... 2 2 3 12 25 49 62 address... 1 8 39 62 78 86 91 addressed... 3 14 36 45 75 77 addresses... 1 5 27 47 66 80 81 addressing... 4 7 21 34 57 68 82 adequate... 1 5 6 9 22 adjourned... 2 3 5 15 28 43 adjust... 1 5 14 36 40 67 80 adjusted... 2 5 13 24 44 47 76 adjustment... 5 11 31 50 52 79 administration 1 3 9 20 33 45 admiration... 1 4 10 21 36 59 admire... 1 4 19 38 54 81 82 admired... 7 19 34 48 71 80 admission... 1 3 9 33 53 69 admit... 8 8 27 40 47 68 74 admitted... 2 10 14 38 56 70 adopt... 3 9 18 29 44 63 74 adopted... 3 6 15 35 42 69 72 adorable... 1 13 25 36 62 76 adore... 1 7 24 48 59 78 85 advance... 13 25 43 69 79 89 advanced... 1 10 28 43 68 75 advantage... 3 12 24 41 60 80 advantages... 1 7 12 31 51 82 adventure... 3 12 34 57 81 89 adventures... 1 17 29 48 76 89 advertised... 1 9 19 35 47 68 advertisement 4 5 7 20 31 46 advertising... 4 11 21 38 52 71 advice... 1 12 24 41 61 72 76 advisable... 2 8 17 32 41 57 advise... 1 12 21 44 59 82 86 advised... 7 18 37 54 72 82 advises... 1 15 33 47 64 71 advising... 1 4 17 31 47 66 80 affair... 2 4 18 32 63 78 affairs... 2 4 19 34 64 76 affect... 3 15 43 66 77 affected... 1 3 10 31 55 71 affection... 1 7 15 32 59 67 affectionate... 1 1 2 4 11 26 50 affectionately 1 1 2 10 14 23 affidavit... 1 3 4 6 6 15
1Abuse is a heteronym. When it is a noun as in the phrase child abuse, it is pronounced “uh b’YOO-ss.” When it is a verb as in the phrase to abuse a privilege, it is pronounced “uh b’YOO-z.” All heteronyms are identified by the use of bold
italic. afford... 1 3 7 15 27 69 69 afraid... 2 20 37 52 63 65 73 after... 23 57 85 88 95 98 98 afternoon... 5 35 73 80 90 93 97 afterward... 1 7 24 45 63 78 85 afterwards... 1 9 29 47 67 80 81 again... 5 24 51 66 77 90 92 against... 1 6 14 27 53 64 68 age... 18 37 74 92 96 97 97 agency... 1 6 16 30 45 64 agent... 15 34 52 69 87 88 agents...1 3 20 41 56 75 77 ages...2 25 51 76 84 91 92 ago...39 82 90 93 96 98 98 agree...9 18 42 64 77 85 89 agreeable... 1 9 21 45 62 74 agreed...1 6 31 44 69 73 85 agreement... 7 14 38 51 67 82 agricultural... 1 3 6 31 40 agriculture... 1 6 17 36 56 ahead... 26 63 73 87 96 96 aid...2 16 40 53 84 87 91 aim...1 8 27 53 76 85 89 air...8 59 88 96 97 99 100 airplane...2 21 51 70 84 88 92 airplanes...4 21 40 57 68 78 85 airport...4 29 64 81 87 93 98 aisles... 1 3 3 9 13 24 alarm...4 17 34 65 78 85 89 alas...4 11 21 36 48 56 60 alfalfa...6 6 14 25 37 40 49 alike...21 39 68 83 90 94 96 alive...6 40 69 82 91 97 97 all...61 89 93 97 98 99 100 all right...1 17 23 25 28 40 41 alley...2 4 21 43 58 67 71 alligators... 3 4 7 19 32 37 allow...1 6 15 42 70 77 79 allowance... 3 7 12 22 40 63 allowed...1 3 10 29 52 64 66 allowing...2 5 11 25 58 70 77 almost...2 23 62 74 82 92 96 alone...3 28 63 68 81 88 89 along...11 51 80 90 92 95 96 aloud...1 13 31 60 62 66 73 already... 21 50 68 79 82 90 also...6 33 60 83 88 93 97 altar... 2 7 10 30 33 34 alter...2 14 33 37 58 62 80 although... 5 18 41 57 74 83 altogether...1 5 24 41 54 70 72 always...5 36 61 79 84 89 96 am...66 71 82 91 94 97 98 ambassador...1 4 6 8 20 33 40 ambition... 3 4 9 28 47 66 amendment...2 4 12 23 28 40 43 American...1 6 21 39 64 74 85 among... 15 42 53 74 77 79 amount...4 6 30 59 77 88 91 amounting... 5 19 47 67 79 86 amounts...1 4 17 45 62 78 79 ample...1 5 21 39 60 68 70 amuse... 5 22 45 59 76 78 amused... 5 24 44 62 72 82 amusement... 6 9 21 31 61 68
2Acts is a homophone of ax and
axe. All homo-phones are
identified by the use of bold.
amusements.... 3 5 13 21 40 65 amusing...1 6 22 38 51 70 78 an...49 61 75 85 91 95 99 analysis... 2 5 7 8 12 22 anchor... 4 10 29 45 62 ancient... 2 6 22 43 57 and...73 95 97 97 99 99 99 angel...1 7 26 35 48 58 61 angels... 4 19 34 46 57 68 anger...1 14 43 57 75 84 84 angle...1 5 17 48 60 74 86 angry...1 7 27 53 59 71 74 animal...1 9 42 46 68 81 87 animals...1 10 30 45 63 83 89 ankle...2 6 16 37 51 67 73 announce... 3 4 8 19 41 73 announced... 4 4 8 22 39 61 announcement 2 9 18 31 52 annual... 3 7 19 38 43 another...6 25 59 69 81 92 94 answer...1 3 29 58 71 78 84 answered... 7 26 32 59 74 77 answering...1 2 18 50 51 78 79 answers... 5 22 44 61 69 80 ant...24 61 57 83 86 91 94 anticipate... 1 2 3 8 16 27 anticipation... 1 2 4 6 12 28 ants...10 29 51 73 86 90 94 anxiety...2 3 4 5 8 10 21 anxious... 3 4 14 28 47 58 any...13 50 67 87 93 97 97 anybody...3 16 46 76 81 93 94 anyhow...3 19 52 67 82 85 95 any more... 24 50 71 83 91 92 anyone...8 42 65 88 92 95 96 anything...9 34 66 81 88 94 96 anyway...5 32 56 75 82 89 90 anywhere...2 24 50 78 82 91 92 apart...4 35 58 79 86 90 93 apartment... 10 34 58 66 74 77 ape...5 32 60 74 88 92 94 apiece... 2 34 28 43 55 60 apology... 2 4 5 8 17 26 apparent... 3 7 10 34 51 apparently... 3 9 17 38 55 appeal... 3 14 35 60 79 appear... 3 5 18 49 76 84 appearance... 1 3 5 14 33 56 appeared... 1 3 18 38 70 73 appearing...1 1 7 22 41 65 77 appears...1 1 11 26 57 75 81 appetite... 1 6 8 20 36 36 apple...25 46 68 89 90 92 95 apples...16 49 59 74 84 91 92 applicant... 2 6 17 26 43 application... 2 6 7 19 38 51 applications.... 2 3 9 15 33 54 applied... 1 5 17 40 59 77 applies... 1 3 10 32 54 71 apply... 3 9 15 28 53 75 applying... 3 11 31 45 50 appoint...2 3 5 14 33 62 84 appointed... 3 19 44 70 83 appointment..2 3 7 20 40 68 84 appreciate...2 1 2 5 16 38 50 appreciated... 1 5 8 15 28 48 appreciation..2 3 4 5 10 25 51 approach... 3 3 9 27 43 73 approval—birth approval... 1 3 4 14 29 56 approve... 2 5 15 32 56 75 approved...1 2 9 14 39 64 76 approximate.... 2 2 2 7 17 28 approximately 2 2 2 3 7 21 April...6 13 52 72 76 81 88 apron...2 12 33 50 72 76 86 arch...1 13 38 58 74 84 87 are...34 77 94 96 97 98 99 area...7 8 19 31 62 67 84 aren’t... 12 28 60 67 71 83 argue...1 4 21 33 51 71 80 argument... 2 18 26 38 47 56 arise...5 14 38 53 65 72 81
Word Families
In
Sentence Context
cab
My brother drives a cab.
cabs
There are all kinds of cabs.
cabby A cab driver is often called a cabby.
cabbies Sometimes cabbies are called hacks.
scab
If you pick a scab, you might get a scar.
scabs
Strike-breakers are often called scabs.
lab
A lab is where a scientist works.
labs
Laboratories are often called labs.
slab
How come I only got one slab of butter?
slabs
You have to have at least two slabs
just for one piece of bread.
grab
I think I’ll just grab a bite to eat.
grabbed I grabbed him, but he got away.
Completely Cross-Referenced to Volumes 1-5 of
The Patterns of English Spelling.
by
Don McCabe
AVKO’s ALL NEW
Word Families
in
Sentence Context
by
Don McCabe
Copyright © 1996 AVKO Educational Research Foundation
3084 W. Willard Road, Suite 251
Clio, Michigan 48420-7801
um
bum
Most prisoners claim they were sent there on a bum rap.
bums
Tramps, hoboes, and bums aren’t quite the same thing.
bummed My uncle has bummed rides all across the country.
bumming My cousin is always bumming cigarettes. I wish she would quit.
slum
Many famous people grew up in a slum.
slums
There are as many kinds of slums as there are cities.
gum
My teachers never let us chew gum in class.
gums
If you don’t brush your gums, you could lose your teeth.
hum
I forgot the tune. Can you hum a couple bars.
hums
If he hums the tune, maybe I can remember some of the words.
hummed Do you know the name of the tune he just hummed?
humming Have you ever heard a hummingbird humming?
rum
I have an uncle who drinks too much rum.
drum
I hope Santa Claus doesn’t bring my little brother a drum.
drums
My older brother always wanted to learn how to play the drums.
sum
I wish he would just sum it up and get it over with.
sums
Tom sums things up faster than anybody I know of.
summed Jack summed it up pretty good—for Jack.
summing There’s a real trick to summing things up.
summary A summary is something that has been summed up.
summaries Are you any good at writing summaries?
summer
What are you going to do this summer?
summery The weather outside is quite summery.
chum
You can chum around with a friend and befriend a chum.
chums
Jack, Don, Tom and Jim have lots of chums.
chummed We have chummed around with a lot of different people.
chumming My ma doesn’t like me chumming around with those guys.
plumbing We need some plumbing work done in our bathroom.
plumber
We really need to have a good plumber do the work.
dumb
It’s really dumb the way the words crumb, plumb (as in plumber),
and dumb end with a dumb b.
dumber
The plumber is dumber than I though he was. He’s plumb loco.
dumbest
That plumber is the dumbest plumber ever.
dummy
Charlie McCarthy is a real dummy, if you know what I mean.
plum
I would rather eat a peach or an apple than eat a plum.
lock
We need a new lock on our door—one you can’t unlock.
block
Go run around the block and find a lock, clock, or rock.
flock
Can you find a lock in a flock of birds?
clock
A clock ticks and clocks tock? Jock won a clock at one o’clock.
rock
Jock likes to rock and roll.
rocks
Mr. Fox throws rocks at any fox around his flocks of chicks.
rocked
Mr. Cox rocked the boat. Jock’s fox was locked up.
rocking Jock loves to rock in his rocking chair.
docking When Jock is docking his boat, you shouldn’t be rocking it.
shocking It shouldn’t be shocking news that Jock’s car needs new shocks.
stockings Do you stock stockings? Can Jock be stocking stockings?
knocking Who came knock, knock, knocking at my door but Mr. Knox.
knocks
Mr. Knox went to the school of hard knocks.
mock
Have you ever had any mock turtle soup?
mocked
Not even Mr. Knox likes to be knocked or mocked.
uck
(UK)
luck
It’s just my luck to have Chuck and Buck drive my truck.
lucky
It’s lucky that Bucky and Chuckie never got stuck with my truck.
luckily
Luckily Chuck and Buck are truckers who never get stuck.
duck
When Huck yelled, “Fore!” I knew I had to duck.
ducks
Everybody ducks when Huck yells, “ Fore!”
ducked
Everybody ducked. Even Huck ducked.
clucked
The chicken clucked and the little chicks ducked.
cluck
Chickens cluck. Ducks quack. Chicks cheep. Dogs bark.
pluck
My mother used to pluck chickens on her uncle’s farm.
plucker
She was a chicken plucker who plucked both chickens and ducks.
chuck
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if Chuck said Duck!
tuck
Tell Chuck to tuck in his shirttail.
tucked
Huck tucked his little boy in bed and turned out the light.
shucks
Shucks, I wanted to shuck some corn and Chuck shucked it all.
trucks
Chuck’s
trucks
never get stuck in muck.
struck
Chuck struck out four
1batters in the first inning.
puck
When Buck cooks, his stew tastes like boiled hockey puck.
sucker
I hate to hear the words, “So long, sucker!”
1
ie
(YH)
die
Six is the highest number you can get when you roll a die.
dies
If the cat dies, you can roll the dice to see who buries it.
died
The cat died. I lied. I rolled just one die.
dying I’m
just
dying to tell you about this guy who is dyeing his hair.
tying
By now all of you should be experts at tying your shoes.
tied
The score was tied the last time I knew. Can you sing the song,
“Ebb Tide?”
ties
Do you think Jeff would like some new ties for his birthday?
tie
What kind of tie is made out of wood? A railroad tie.
pie
Do you like apple pie?
pies
How many pies should we bake for Thanksgiving?
ye
(YH)
eye
Wiley Willie has an eye on the presidency.
Popeye
Is Popeye, pop-eyed, blue-eyed or brown-eyed?
eyes
When he eyes things, he really goes after them.
eyeing
If guys are eyeing the gals, are gals eyeing the guys?
aye I said, “Aye, aye, sir.” I don’t want a black eye.
ayes
The motion was passed with seven ayes and four nays.
byes
The two teams with the best records drew byes for the first round in
the playoffs.
bye By the way, have you seen the musical, “Bye, Bye, Birdie”?
goodbye
We said goodbye. That car isn’t exactly a good buy.
good-bye
Good-bye. Good luck. And be good, by the way.
dye
Did you know your hair is already dead when you dye it?
dyes
Pat dyes his hair green every St. Patrick’s day.
dyeing
Did you know Guy has been dyeing his hair for ages?
rye
What would happen if a body met a body coming through the rye?
igh
(YH)
high
How high is the sky? How high is a high school? Sky-high?
higher
If
you
hire Hiram, he’ll only ask for higher wages.
sigh
Did you hear Cy sigh?
sighs Cy’s sighs come in only one size—large.
sighed
As an aside, whose side were you on when Cy sighed.
nigh
Captain Bligh got high on rye nigh onto a hundred years ago.
thigh The
words thy thigh is an example of voiced and unvoiced th’s.
eam (eem) rhymes with the -eem and -eme rimes.
beam
Did you ever want to chase a moon beam?
beamed
You should have seen the way she beamed at me.
beaming
She was really beaming. Her face lit up with a great big smile.
ream
How many sheets of paper in a ream?
dream
Do you dream in color or just black and white?
dreams
My dreams are in living color.
dreaming
I enjoy dreaming and especially daydreaming.
cream
You’re the cream in my coffee.
ice cream
I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream.
scream
Doesn’t that make you want to scream?
screaming
Remember,
there’s
to be no screaming in here.
stream
Is this a form of stream of consciousness?
streams
I enjoy walking and fishing upstream in small trout streams.
teams
Are you on any teams at all?
team
My sister is the anchor on her bowling team.
steam
You could see the steam coming out of his ears.
steaming
He was steaming mad.
seam It
would
seem that Jill would know what a seam is.
seams
It
seems that Jack know what seams are and Jill doesn’t.
eem rhymes with the -eam and -eme rimes.
seem Does
it
seem to you that Jill should be able to sew a seam?
seems
It
seems that Jack is good at sewing seams.
seemed
It seemed to me that both guys and gals should be able to sew.
deemed
I deemed it politically correct to say it that way.
redeemed
Some people think I haven’t redeemed myself yet.
teeming
That stream was just teeming with small fry.
esteem
Jack holds himself in very high esteem. He’s stuck up.
self-esteem
Everyone should have a lot of self-esteem and humility.
oam rhymes with the -ome (home) rime.
foam
Here’s to the oceans white with foam!
roam
Just where do the deer and the antelope roam? In Rome?
roamed
We roamed all over the city of Rome.
loam
Our soil is a nice sandy loam.
oom rhymes with the -ume and -omb (tomb) rimes.
room
There was room in her womb but none in the inn.
broom
Take a broom and sweep out the tomb.
bloom Judy
Blume loves flowers in bloom.
wa (wah) or qua (KWah)
swab
Would you rather scrub the floor or swab the deck?
swabbed
As a sailor, my brother swabbed many a deck.
squab
Does squab leave a fowl taste in your mouth or a foul taste?
wad
Who threw that paper wad on the floor?
wadded
Who wadded up all that paper?
tightwad
You shouldn’t call that skinflint an old tightwad. That’s not nice.
quad
Is one out of four a quad?
squad
Have you ever heard of a life squad?
squadron
My uncle has a lot of war stories about his squadron.
waft
A feather will just gently waft through the air.
wafted
It just wafted through the air like a feather.
waffles
Would you rather have pancakes or waffles for breakfast?
wallet
Has anybody seen my wallet?
walloping The Lions gave the Cowboys a real walloping.
quality
My sister believes in buying only things of high quality.
qualities
She has many good qualities, but being thrifty is not one of them.
quantity
My neighbor likes to buy food in quantity to get a better price.
quantities
He buys food in super quantities.
squalor
Until you’ve been in India, you really don’t know squalor.
swamp
Pogo met the enemy in the swamp and found it was us.
wan A
wan face is pale, but Juan is not a pale face.
swan
The ugly duckling turned out to be a beautiful swan.
Juan
Juan is a very common name among many of my relatives.
Juanita
My sister Juanita gets mad when I call her Johnnie.
wand
Sometimes I wish I had a magic wand.
wander
Please don’t wander off.
want
Now what do you want?
swap
Tom wanted to swap a dead frog for a broken slingshot.
wash
Did your mother ever wash your mouth out with soap?
squash
I like to eat squash at least once every twenty years or so.
wasp
Have you ever been stung by a wasp?
watch
You had better watch out and better not cry or pout.
swatch
Could you give me a swatch of that material to take with me?
water
Would anybody like a glass of ice water?
swat
What’s the most number of flies you’ve killed with one swat?
squat
I hate to squat down. It hurts my knees.
Readings for
Fluency
Practice Sentences to help the beginning
reader achieve fluency in reading basic
words whether they are
printed,
ALL
IN CAPITAL LETTERS,
Éü ‡üitten
in cursiÌí.
problems
PROBLEMS problems
proèôems.
Note: No letter in the four “problems” above has the same appearance in each word.
by
Don McCabe
Readings for Fluency
(in decoding and encoding)
by Don McCabe
Practice Sentences
to help the beginning adult reader (from 6-96)
achieve automaticity
in responding to common words
no matter whether they are
hand printed
,
ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS, or written in
cursive
.
The sentences may also be used for
SPELLING DICTATIONusing immediate student self-correction.
Copyright 1997 AVKO Educational Research Foundation
3084 W. Willard Road, Clio MI 48420
Telephone (810) 686-9283 FAX (810) 686-9283
E Mail: Don [email protected]
Preface to
Readings for Fluency
Although “comprehension” is the ultimate goal of reading, there are a number of other goals
that must be achieved first. Among these goals are learning to recognize and write the letters of
the alphabet and correctly responding to the sounds that the patterns of these letters make.
In recent years, there has been such an emphasis placed upon the end result of reading
instruction, that many students fail to achieve the skills necessary to become good readers. This
book is our attempt to provide a certain segment of beginning readers with sufficient practice
that will enable them to at least read fluently the more common words of our language.
And who are these readers who need this practice? They are those who have learned to
respond almost solely to a specific sight picture of a word. For example, the pictograph
ball
does not look at all like BALL,
Ball
or
ball
. Students learning by the sight method of
instruction may be able to quickly and easily read
ball if the print in the book
they are using looks like this.
Their problem is that their computer brains
have made visual pictographs (pictures) of whole words and respond to these pictures and not to
the letter patterns that the words are made out of. So in order to respond quickly and accurately
to common words, they must learn to quickly and automatically respond to the letter patterns
these words are composed of, no matter what the individual shapes of the letters may happen to
be.
If you don’t believe us, give the following test to a person who cannot read a single word of
English and who doesn’t know the Roman alphabet.
Circle the word on the right that is the same word as the one on the left.
ball
dall
boll
beff
BALL
Batt
FIT
fih
flt
fit
EIT
fil
RAT
Eat
rat
ret
BAT
raf
holder
dolder
bolder
kolder
HOLDER
koôder
Pizza
Pigga
Pizzo
Plezzo
PIGGA
Pizza
What we try to do is to give simple sentences of below 3.0 level of difficulty written in many
styles of print, manuscript and cursive, upper and lower case. It is designed for the
read-along-with-me technique. The tutor can read the first sentence and the student the second (and
sometimes third) sentence in each grouping.
Target
Word
Sentences Using Target Words
is What
is this all about?
is
This is about making reading smooth and easy.
'
SW
HAT'
S THIS ALL ABOUT?
IS
T
HIS IS ABOUT MAKING READING SMOOTH AND EASY.
Is
Is she going to work today?
is
No, she is not going to work today.
'
SN
O,
SHE’
S NOT GOING TO WORK TODAY.
isn't
Why isn't she going to work today?
is Today
is her day off.
's Today’s her day off.
is
What is the matter with you?
is Nothing
is the matter with me.
's
What’s the matter with you?
's
Nothing’s the matter with me.
is
Is that your girl friend sitting over there?
is
Yes, that is my girl friend sitting over there.
's
Yes, that’s my girl friend sitting over there.
IS
W
HO IS THAT GOOD LOOKING YOUNG MAN SITTING WITH HER?
IST
HAT GOOD LOOKING YOUNG MAN IS HER BROTHER.
's
Who’s that good looking young man sitting with her?
's
That good looking young man’s her brother.
IS
W
HAT IS THAT YOU JUST SAID?
IS
I
JUST SAID, "T
HAT GOOD LOOKING YOUNG MAN IS HER BROTHER."
is
Who is that good looking young woman over there?
is
That good looking young woman is my sister.
Is
Is that right?
IS
YES, THAT IS RIGHT!
's
Yes, that’s right.
Target
Word
Sentences Using Target Words
dog
A man’s best friend is his dog. A woman’s best friend is her dog.
dogs
Why does it rain cats and dogs? Why not horses and cows?
DOG
’
SW
HAT’
S SO BAD ABOUT LEADING A DOG’
S LIFE?
DOGGYS
OME PEOPLE CARRY A DOGGY BAG WITH THEM.
doggies
You know that they don’t feed their leftovers to their doggies.
log
There’s a frog on a log on the bottom of the sea.
LOGS
H
OW MANY LOGS DOES IT TAKE TO BUILD A LOG CABIN?
LOGGEDI
T TOOK ME AN HOUR BUTI
FINALLY LOGGED ON TOAOL.
logging Logging on to America Online isn’t very easy.
logging A lumberjack should know all about logging.
fog
It’s no fun drivñng in the fog.
fogs
I hate it wïen my wñndshield fogs up.
fogged My glasses fogged up when I came in out of the cold.
fogging In the winter, my glasses keep fogging up.
CLOG
H
AIR WILL CLOG UP A DRAIN.
CLOGS
B
E CAREFUL WHEN YOU CLEAN OUT CLOGS.
clogged
You never know for sure what clogged up the drain.
clogging
My parents really loved to go square dancing and clogging.
JOG
D
OES THAT JOG YOUR MEMORY A LITTLE BIT?
JOGSM
Y BROTHER JOGS TWO MILES EVERY SINGLE DAY.
jogged
Once I jogged two blocks. Then I quit.
jogging Some people believe in jogging. I believe in walking.
hog
My ªüoœher is such a hog, ¤í call him PÉüky.
hogs
He hogs all the goúå stuff. He’s such a pig.
HOGGED
